Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Women lived the life of the underlying sex during the Middle Ages and although they were essentially the front foot of many creations, women artists getting the main spotlight with their work was something extremely unheard of. This time period in specific included many enforcing restrictions in terms of gender rules and acceptable social structures that strictly prohibited women from obtaining the strong, powerful roles that men had. Art in the Middle Ages became a didactic tool of the church. Apart from that, “families sent girls as young as five or six years old to nunneries,” (Guerrilla Girls, 21) where they could get the flavor of art and be closer to Christ. Whereas men were seen to be dominating in terms of their work and responsibilities within a public sphere, women were expected to live a rather submissive lifestyle, sacrificing valuable things such as their very own education. Instead, they were expected to have a private, lowkey life staying at home and taking care of children in the family. As stated in one of the readings earlier from the semester, "…education was thought to interfere with a woman's ability to be a good wife and mother. Almost no women were taught to read and write," (Guerrilla Girls, 22).

The Renaissance and 19^th century slowly but surely became the turning point of the role play in women history as they were finally starting to break through the burdened restrictions of simply being a housewife. At first, women were still oppressed under the male of the house where much female talent could not be exposed. While the Renaissance apted towards broader perceptions among various subject matters such as religion, women gaining more recognition as artists was still discouraged. If a woman happened to by chance become a form of an artist during this age, her level of talent and value as an artist was not considered equal to a male artist. Women started to get into the swing of needlework and embroidery as it required “fewer skills”. Of course male patriarchy wasn’t something that could change overnight, as it was seen as “a political system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence,” (Hooks, 18); however things finally did take a few minor tolls to switch things up here and there during the 19^th century.

Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1620
Artemisia Gentileschi, the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, was one of the most recognized women artists in the Renaissance. She was trained by her father, but was rejected from the academies because of her gender.
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance-3.html..

Self Portrait in a Tondo, 1579
Lavinia Fontana was regarded as the first woman artist, working within the same sphere as her male counterparts, outside a court or convent. She was the first woman artist to paint female nudes.
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance-3.html.

Also, during this time a specific artist named Sofonisba Anguissola served as a pillar with her work to encourage and provide other woman the ability to become artists of their own. Though it didn’t suddenly change the fact that men were still seen as the superior artists, the female population progressively started to learn art and create painting and “women artists” started to become a common sight. In one of his texts, Chadwick goes about sharing how, “Sofonisba Anguissola's example opened up the possibility of painting to women as a socially acceptable profession, while her work established new conventions for self-portraiture by women and for Italian genre painting. Like many subsequent women artists, she has been subjected to wildly fluctuating critical evaluations” (Chadwick, 77). It was not until the 19^th century that women started getting the true appreciation and recognition for the efforts they contributed into their artworks.  Female artists having the same right as men was a huge turning point in society.

Sofonisba Anguissola's Self Portrait
-Demonstrates a sense of class, empowering stability, and sophistication within her work
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance-3.html..

Work Cited:

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, art, and society. Londres: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Print.

“Women Artists Of the Renaissance” http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance-3.html.

Kelly, Joan. “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” Women, History and Theory. Ed.Joan Kelly.Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1984.1950.